


It Will Change, I Will Make Sure of That

by RandomFanfictions



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: (again), Angst, BAMF May Parker, Fluff, Hurt Peter Parker, I Hated How Infinity War Ended So I Fixed It, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Russos can catch these hands, Thanos gon' get it, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-13
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-05-14 01:12:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14759769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomFanfictions/pseuds/RandomFanfictions
Summary: currently being rewritten as a new ficHe died.His body crumbled, pulling itself apart atom by atom until nothing was left.Wide eyes full of fear and regret staring up at the man who was like a father.And just like that...With a snap of the fingers.He died.But he didn't.-------Alternate Titles: Peter Parker Plots A Plan to Punch Thanos in PersonorPeter Fucks Up Thanos' Plan





	1. Oh Hey Guys I Kinda Died

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first beginning part is inspired by “Breathe, the Repeat” by TheSecretUchiha and I highly recommend reading it. I just loved the way they started it and tried to recreate something like that

He died.

His body crumbled, pulling itself apart atom by atom until nothing was left.

Wide eyes full of fear and regret staring up at the man who was like a father.

And just like that...

With a snap of the fingers.

He died.

 

But he didn't.

Peter blinked his eyes open and suddenly he was almost going to fall over. _When did he stand up?_ He gasped for air, his lungs deprived of oxygen.

"Woah woah woah, kid you feeling okay?"

_Who's voice was that?_

"Kid. _Kid._ "

_Who's calling him?_

A pair of arms appeared, catching him before he dropped. 

"Hey hey hey hey" the voice said rapidly, trying to get his attention.

Peter blinked once. Twice. 

Things were beginning to materialize right in front of him. The face of Happy Hogan swam into view.

"You need to lay down?" he asked, face pinched in what looked like worry.

_Where is he? What happened?_

"T'ny" he slurred. Peter's brain not able to make his mouth work right.

“Hey, easy there, we can go back around if you need Tony” Happy still hovered over the teen, half expecting him to fall again. 

Suddenly, Peter is aware of his surroundings. They’re in the same hallway that they were in when Tony had asked him to be an avenger six months ago. When he first saw the iron spider suit. 

Wait. 

Shit. 

_Oh shit._

“Happy, please, can you tell the the month?”

“It’s september - kid are you sure you’re okay? Do you need a doc-“

Peter sprinted towards a familiar looking door he had seen all that time ago and ran straight through it. 

Fifty reporters all turn to stare at him and he feels anxiety pool at the pit of his stomach. He pushes it down for the moment, he needs to get through this. 

“Mr. Stark, I need to talk to you right now”

The billionaire looks a little annoyed with him right now, but, he did just die only a minute ago so he should be able to do what he wants. 

The pair walk out the doors, the sounds of cameras clicking and their flashing lights doing nothing to soothe Peter’s mind. His senses feel like they’re being dialed to a 20, it’s too loud, too bright, too much. 

It doesn’t feel like he’s just in a building anymore. No, he’s back on Titan. Explosions going off every time they take a step forward on the cool tile floor. The lack of air in husband lungs is because Thanos has him pinned to the floor, pushing him down so tightly that even the stone around him cracks and crumbles. 

A voice pulls him from his thoughts “Breathe, Pete” they instruct. 

When Peter opens his eyes, he’s sitting on the floor with Tony crouched over him. It feels a little too familiar and the teen feels sick.

"You alright there, bud?" the man ask, but before the teenager could answer, Pepper emerged from behind the doors "Hey, Tony, I need your help, I can't keep making up wedding details by myself"

Her gaze drops to see Peter, trying to look less like he's on the brink of a complete mental breakdown and her eyes soften "You should go. Take care of him" 

"Let's go somewhere more private" Tony whispers to him when she leaves. 

They finally find a room not occupied by any other people, it takes a couple of minutes even still for him to form a sentence. After all, how are you supposed to look someone in the eye and tell them that you just died in their arms.

"Mr. Stark, I need to tell you something really important, and its going to sound crazy but I need you to believe me." he says desperate but firm.

"Of course, kiddo, go ahead and spit it out"

He pauses for a second, thinking of the best place to start. "I'm from the future" he states blankly "Six months in the future and something really bad happens."

Tony chuckles a little, almost relieved "Oh, are we playing make believe? I thought you were going to say something bad"

"Mister Stark, I died." 

There's a sense of cold finality in his voice that was never there before. Harsh and unforgiving. It's like a slap in the face.

Whatever smile was on his lips, whatever hint of laughter was there is all gone now. 

"What happened? How are you here?"

"Thanos. He..there was something about Infinity Stones. He got them all, he killed half the universe, myself included. I died, but then I woke up and now I'm here"

If this were any other person, anyone else that Tony had ever met, he probably wouldn't have believed them. He could tell this wasn't his Peter Parker. The bubbling mess of anxiety and excitement he was used to. The Peter Parker that was practically a human Golden Retriever.

No, this Peter Parker sounded like he's been hurt before. His eyes not as trusting as they once were, no longer sparkling with curiosity or interest. He spoke with intention, but it was bitter and hard, but the problem with that was he could harden so much, he could just become brittle and break.

"You...you died?"


	2. You Hear Right, A Purple Thumb Killed Us All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, I know, but guess who just finished watching the 13th season of supernatural and is crying in a corner then decided to watch voltron and now is sobbing even harder in a corner?? Its me. please send help. i need more fanfics to heal my wounded soul. might write some too so watch out for that

From the shocked and fearful look on Tony's face, Peter guessed that starting off the whole thing by telling the man he literally just died and is now in the past _might_ have been just a little too much. 

But seriously, what is the most emotionally considerate way of telling someone that you fought for hours, had a chance of winning, then died because everyone was unprepared and Barney's evil twin killed half the universe with a snap. 

"Yeah" he chuckled "Like, three minutes ago"

"What happened?'

Peter looked up and saw an expression he rarely sees. Complete terror. Mr. Stark's face paled, eyes filled with dread. He looked like he aged ten years right then and there. The last time he saw that same expression he -

"Thanos" the teen choked out, breaking eye contact "I really don't know much, but I remember his name."

An internal conflict began raging war in Tony's mind. Should he drop the topic now? Pry more? _Hug his kid??_

"What do you remember?" the man pulled Peter into a side hug while sitting awkwardly on the floor

"There was wizards, one left, but the other guy was named something like Mr. Weird.. uh.. Dr. Odd? Mr. Peculiar?"

"Huh, strange name"

" _That's it!_ He said his name was Doctor Strange, but I can't tell if that's his real or made up name"

He took a steadying breath and pushed on "Evil squidward or whatever the hell he was took Strange and I jumped onto the flying donut spaceship. He was trying to torture him I think. Something to do with the glowy necklace he was wearing. He told us it was the Time Stone so I assume that its an infinity stone too. We ended up on a planet, we met these guys called the Guardians of the Galaxy and they have really bad taste in movies" he snickers at the memory

"Their leader, his name was also Peter - he said Footloose was the greatest movie of all time" 

It was relief to watch what looked to be some of the kid he knew before resurface. His face softened.

"Thanos was there, it - it didn't go well. Strange said he saw 14 million, whatever the whole number was, of different outcomes and we only won once. I really want to believe he knew what he was doing because he let Peter Quill wake Thanos up after the alien lady Mantis had put him under and we tried grabbing the gauntlet. He also gave up the Time Stone to save your life" Peter added the last part more quietly, almost afraid to remember that scene.

"Thanos left, and I don't know what went down after that. All I know was that the reoccurring theme was 'Don't Let Evil Purple Man Snap Or Else We Die' so I assume that's what happened." he finished, hands shaking slighting and pressing his body into his mentor.

It was traumatizing enough going through everything once, but to repeat it was on a whole other level.

"Kid, I - "

"Mr. Stark, I was really scared. I felt it coming before anyone else and it made it so much worse. I'm sorry that I had to end up leaving you like that" the teen felt tears prick his eyes "You told me not too long ago on this timeline that if I died, you felt like it would be on you and I'm so sorry I did that to you"

Tony was beyond shocked now. This fucking kid was _apologizing_ about _being killed?_ He was _comforting_ himself when he had just been through so much in the past fifteen minutes? Peter was too good for his own freaking good. 

"Don't say sorry, it wasn't your fault, don't ever apologize for it. We will figure this out and we will get though this together" 

The boy chuckled darkly, tears falling from his eyes as he rubbed them away "I don't think I can physically stop myself from saying sorry. They were literally my last words to you" 

Tony's blood ran cold at the thought and decided right now, it would be best to show Peter his room and maybe get him to talk to May. This was a lot to process in one day, and no doubt will this have serious mental repercussions. For now, all they can do is take things one step at a time.

"Hey, kiddo, you've been through a lot. You should rest, if you want, I'll stay with you, but I'll be getting in contact with some people. You said this Doctor Strange guy was here on earth, right? Maybe I can track him down or something." 

Peter's tired eyes didn't lose any of the endless amounts of concern.

"Don't worry, the universe is safe for now and we'll defeat Thanos because of you. Get some rest, maybe talk with your Aunt, I'm not going to push you to anything, but maybe if you told her about Spider-Man, it could make this burden a little easier."

He sniffles, shaking his head, "I can't tell her" he stated "at least not now. I don't want to hurt her, after everything that's happened with us ... I'll wait for now."

With that, the older man stood up, offering a hand to the younger and they made their way around the halls to a Spider-Man themed room three times as big as the room he had back at home. Had it been on better circumstances, he might've completely freaked out and gone crazy with excitement, but for now, all he could do was shuffle over to the queen sized bed and anxiously dial his Aunt's number. When Tony made a move to leave as the phone rang, Peter held out his hand to stop him, communicating that he wantedhim to stay. 

He nodded, taking a seat by the desk, ready to stay with Peter for as long as he needs.


	3. It's Official, I Hate Sleep, Mr. Stark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a concept, don't know how well I'll execute it, but from how this chapter goes, I'm sure you'll be able to guess what's going to happen

_There was a hazy glow around everything, the same kind of blurriness you get when you rub your eyes a little too hard and it takes longer than usual to focus. Suddenly, he was back Titan. Thanos was asleep under Mantis's hold. They almost have the gauntlet off - wait, this has happened before. Last time.. last time Peter Quill - he -_

_Thanos was awake. Oh no, no no no no._

_No this can't be happening. Not again. Peter thought he was - he thought he was back in the past. This is still the past, but it's not where he's supposed to be. He was supposed to warn them, to stop this. He was_

_"Strange!" he shouted, throat raw from yelling already so much before hand "Doctor Strange, what's going on?! Help me" he cried_

_If anyone knows what's going on, its Strange._

_"Peter" someone was calling him._

_It was fuzzy and sounded distant. "Doctor Strange" he screamed so hard it hurt his lungs. Tony was bleeding, Thanos had stabbed him and was ready to kill him. He knows what's going to happen and now Doctor Strange was about to give up the time stone._

_"NO! PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING" tears were falling down his face "Please, please, please, PLEASE! I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"_

_Peter was sobbing now, why was he back here again? Is he going to die again? He doesn't want to die._

_He doesn't want to die, please._

_The wizard turned to Peter and he heard his name, he didn't know where it was coming from. He didn't know who's voice it was, but they kept calling him. Doctor Strange looked like he as trying to tell him something, but whoever was calling his name was getting louder and louder. He gave up the time stone._

_This was it. This is the end. The same scenes played over again, except he knew it even before his spidey sense warned him. He knew it before Thanos got the time stone. He knew it before Quill ruined their plan. He knew it before anyone else did._

_So what did he do? He hugged Mr. Stark, hugged him so tight he could almost not feel his body warn him of what was coming. The voice was still calling him and it so loud it hurt. It didn't sound clear, but distorted. Like it wasn't supposed to exist in this world._

_"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do this twice" he whispered as he crumbled to ash_

 

He screamed. When he woke up, he was screaming and it completely scared the crap out of his mentor. it took a second to readjust, his breathing was coming in fast, but it wasn't enough oxygen. 

Tony was instantly at his side, trying to soothe him as he began to cry. "It's over, you're here now, you're at the compound, nothing has happened" he says over and over, helping ground the teenager.

When he managed to calm down, the billionaire asks what happened, if he wanted to talk about it. He wants to say no, because it was just a dumb nightmare and he knew it wasn't real, but there was something so raw and accurate about it all that makes Peter wonder otherwise. 

"I was back on Titan" he says after a minute, voice still full of emotion "It was back when we were trying to pull the gauntlet off. I was completely aware of everything. I knew what was going to happen, I remember being here, going back to now, and I remember how it ended the first time."

"It's okay, kiddo, it was just a bad dream, you're safe now" he rubs circles into his back

"No, I - I don't think it was just a dream" Peter pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts "I heard someone trying to call me, but it sounded like it didn't _belong_. I don't know how to describe it. I was trying to talk to Strange. I, uh , I thought he knew why I was there. Everything happened exactly the same except for whatever I did. No matter how hard I screamed and cried, begging for him to answer me, it was like I was outside a closed circuit. Nothing changed, but then at the end, he - he looked at me. I don't remember that happening last time. I thought he was trying to say something, but the voice that was calling my name was too loud. I died again, went the same way it did before"

"Why do you think it wasn't a dream?"

Peter looks at the clock and grimaces "I've only been asleep for fifteen minutes. That's not enough time for my brain to hit the REM cycle and begin dreaming, also, I was in that world for at least thirty minutes, I wasn't fully aware of anything until the gauntlet scene so who knows how long I was there before."

Tony really wants to disagree, just a simple _feeling_ about whether or not something wasn't a dream isn't exactly proof that someone was in another world, but then again he was right about the REM thing, but he is a mutated superhuman, so things could work differently and time works differently in dreams than real life. He wants to argue so badly because he can't stand the thought of Peter suffering through the same situation more than once, but this is his kid. He wouldn't make things up just to lie. He knows things that otherwise no one would never know, and he trusts him.

"I'll call Strange, do you think you can sleep still?" 

He shakes his head. The last thing he wants is to be dead _again_. "I'm going to say 'I'll sleep when I'm dead' ironically now" he laughs darkly, wiping away what's left of the tear tracks on his face. 

They'll talk to Dr. Strange and everything will be sorted out. 

They will be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so if this was a little confusing, basically, Peter goes into another world while he sleeps. Well, kind of. This is going to heavily revolve around Peter and whatever Dr. Strange was telling him. I can't spoil too much on what I want to write, but lets just say, you're going to see a lot of Peter trying to figure out whats going on while he sleeps.


	4. Your Plan Is Stupid Mr. Peculiar

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter swears when he’s angry. Dr. Strange makes him angry. Look what you did, Strange. Now he’s got anxiety.

Peter paced around the room for who knows how long. Tony was calling Doctor Strange, but it sounded more like some kind of arguing-flirting-i-hate-you-but-not-really thing going on. He grew impatient and pulled the phone from his mentor’s hands. 

The action shocked him, but quite frankly, Peter could not give a flying fuck about it. 

“Doctor Strange, this is Peter Parker. I need you to show up at the Avengers compound facility now or open up a portal to let us show up. I don’t have time for petty arguments, it’s important,”

There was a grunt on the opposite side of the line before a large portal opened up. When no one entered, Peter walked right through with no hesitation. 

“What’s so important that a twelve year old demanded to talk to me?” He scoffs, closing the portal as soon as Tony shuffled through, eyeing around carefully. 

“I’m both simultaneously 16 and 15 right now and I’m also your only hope to save half the universe so you better take me seriously, _sir_.” He bites back, painfully aware of how different this Doctor Strange is from the one that he saw not too long ago in his sleep like state. 

“And what exactly is the threat?” He asks sarcastically.

“A giant fucking raisin,” Peter responds in the same tone as the wizard. “God, you were so much nicer when we were both dying,” he mutters under his breath. This catches the man’s attention

“ _What?_ ”

“Thanos. He got all six of the infinity stones, including the one you have there on your neck. The purple jerk killed half the universe, including us two, but for some reason I’m still here.”

There’s a look of fear on Doctor Strange’s face, but he masks it instantly with interest.

“How peculiar, this sounds similar to a book I once read...” he trails off teleporting to another part of the building where he looks around for something.

“Wong? Do you know where the - oh, never mind, I got it.” 

Suddenly, he’s back with the book, flipping through pages. It takes a moment, but then he finds exactly what he needed. 

“Ah, Yes. Here it is,” Dr. Strange mumbles sentences to himself, rereading the passage before explaining it. “So the gist of it is that you’re a variable. I must’ve done something, put you in some sort of loop, trying new numbers, changing around the equation until we get the number for x. Tell me more about what happened with Thanos,”

This time around, it felt harder to explain it. He lives it, then relives it over and over. Peter wonders if he should just record himself talking about it once, then play it every time someone asked. 

When he concluded the story, he made sure to add the whole ‘falling asleep then all of the sudden he’s back there again’ thing. He figured it just _might_ be crucial to add in. Y’know, _maybe_ important. 

“Fascinating” he mutters, popping in an out of existence to grab more scrolls and books. “You are totally right about the REM sleep cycle thing, by the way.”

Peter looks at Tony and smirks, biting back saying ‘I told you so’. 

“So do you know what’s going on or how to help?” Mr. Stark finally asks after being silent the entire time.

“I’ve had a theory about something for a while, and I think of what your kid is saying is true, then I was right,” Strange replies distractedly, still looking through papers.

Peter takes a step forward to look at the items. They ranged from timelines to alternate dimensions and paradoxes. He wasn’t sure what to think of it all. Why was _he_ out of literally _anyone_ picked to do this?

Well, at least out of all of this, he didn’t have to come before the vulture incident. That was the only good thing to come out of this other than having the chance to save the universe. Because really, being a teenager who has to juggle being Spider-Man and schoolwork with deteriorating mental health as he loses his sanity over keeping both those things in check was hard enough. Now throw in an entire universe and you my friend have a recipe for disaster. 

“Peter, do me a favor and take a nap,” the wizard tells him over his shoulder, now pulling out random objects that must have some sort of magical ability. 

“What? Why?”

“I have a timer for exactly fifteen minutes like before, and if my calculations are right, you should land right back into that whole scene again. Find me, don’t bother about Thanos. Find me and ask him for information. Since I am past me, I will remember telling you this and by then I should have answers.”

“Wait, so I travel to the future while I sleep? How does that work?” 

“I think what I did was try to use a spell. It must’ve been delayed by something, most likely Thanos, for it to not work until you were dead, lucky for us your soul had not yet left the physical realm and found it’s way back here thanks to me. Now, when you sleep, you find yourself in alternate realities, all the ones that we fail, but the same thing happens over and over. I use the spell to send you back, it gets delayed until you die, then poof, back here again. Rinse and repeat. 

This is just a theory of mine, but I won’t know until the moment happens if it’s true so you need to go back, and ask me.” Dr. Strange finishes hastily, anxious to try his theory out. 

Peter’s gut seemed to tell him that whatever this man was telling him was probably not going to work. It could’ve just been because of how fast the solution seemed to appear and how in the movies, it’s never the first option given to the main character, but it felt really fishy.

“So I have to keep reliving the same thing until we fix it?” Peter’s face was twisted in horror. 

Parker’s luck never ceases to amaze him. 

“Yeah, not happening.” Tony steps forward defensively “We’ll figure this out some other way, thanks for the help Mr. Weirdo.”

He’s just about to leave, grabbing Peter by the shoulders and steering him away when the teenager tugs at his sleeve. “Mr. Stark, I have to do this. It’s either this or the death of the entire universe including me. Doesn’t matter which way, I still die but only in one do I die permanently.”

A pained look appeared on his face as he begrudgingly sighed. Tony wished this didn’t have to happen, that Peter wasn’t forced to this life but - this kid was their only hope. 

“Fine, but I’m letting you all know I hate this plan.”

“Not like I need your approval, Stark,” the doctor rolls his eyes.

“Oh fuck you, Harry Potter.”

“I think the phrase you’re looking for is ‘fuck me’.”

The two began to argue more and Peter was absolutely finished with their bullshit. “Can we get back to the task at hand or are you going to keep flirting until I die again?” He spits out angrily. 

It was enough to pull the men out of their fighting and resume their work. They became uncomfortable, reminded of the child standing right there that would be doomed to a time loop infinitely if they couldn’t solve the problem soon. 

Doctor Strange points a finger to a couch in the corner of the room and tells Peter to lay down. He pulls out some weird ancient looking objects and does something with them. He falls asleep before he questions it, still exhausted with the events that were far too raw in his mind and would never fade. 

* * *

His eyes shut and it was almost immediate when he fell back into the other world. Now he was aware of it, he could feel things he didn’t feel before. The acute pain that surged his body when his eyes blinked open. The weariness that was bone deep looking over his head. 

Again, the voice still existed, but Doctor Strange told him to find himself in this time period so he pushed back the noise. 

The time he arrived was different. He wasn’t holding onto the gauntlet. This was right after he met the guardians. The Doctor Strange of this time was hiding behind a bunch of rocks. 

Oh. 

This is when he saw all the outcomes. 

They only won once. 

Peter forced his legs to move, and luckily they felt lighter than they did that first travel back to now. This was before they started really fighting and he wasn’t majorly injured. 

“Strange!” He shouted, pushing his way in front of the man. Tony was already there, asking what was wrong. 

“Hey, Doctor Strange, you-you told me to ask you for that information. Well I’m asking now” his voice was anxious but steady, eager to understand and finally be finished with this nightmare. 

The man ignored him completely. It was like Peter wasn’t even there. 

“Wait, nonono Strange y-you gotta... you’re supposed to tell me what to do!” His voice went from nervous to hysteric pretty fast. Insane laughter came out in bursts as he was trying not to rip out his hair. 

Things continued exactly like they did before, except Spider-Man was trying his hardest to be noticed. Nothing was happening and he felt like he was going crazy. 

The voice in the back of his head kept getting louder and louder. It was now hurting. It kept calling his name and instead of a rhythmatic constant stream of sound, it was irratic and never ending. 

When it would pause, if was for nothing more than a few seconds. It sounded so close to could reach out and grab him. 

Suddenly he was dying again, not being able to do anything except to just be angry with himself. Mr. Stark was holding him again, unshed tears in the man’s eyes. 

“Three strikes and I guess I’m out,” he mumrmured as the white hot pain of dematerialization flared through him and the voice was practically screaming for him. 

————

He woke up again, but not yelling like the first time. Instead it was just cold fear clawing at his body that made him feel like he couldn’t even move. 

Peter was paralyzed with terror. 

_He couldn't change a thing_

“Now, Peter. What did I say? Did he tell-“ 

“We can’t.” He swallows then takes in a shuddering breath

His sudden interruption and solemn tone caught them off guard. He pulled himself up into a sitting position and tried to shake the anxiety from his brain. The men had no idea what to do and just sat there motionless.

"I - I couldn't change a thing. It was like I didn't even exist. I don't - I don't know what I'm supposed to do," 

If Peter focused hard enough, he could almost feel his bones breaking apart as he dies. He almost can taste his own blood on his lips and the only sound he can register is the ghost of a whisper calling his name. 

He has to push past it.

"Didn't you set an alarm? You - you didn't wake me up..." the kid looks to his mentor who pales.

"We tried," he states grimly, looking down to the floor "You wouldn't wake up, and you stopped breathing." 

This shouldn't come to the teen as a surprise, out of all the things to have happen today, this doesn't seem like the thing that should shake him to the core, giving him a kind of fear that never dissipates. Yet here he was, trying to hold back a panic attack.

"The-th-the voice? What does ... why? Was it - it was you? It didn't -" he felt just as helpless as he did back on Titan. No matter what he did, it was like he didn't matter. 

_What does the voice **want**?!_

"Hey, calm down there kiddo deep breaths, just mimic me." Tony was barely managing his own terror, but sounded unusually sure of himself.

It took a few minutes, but Peter finally had some control back in his life. When he had looked away from the man in front of him, he saw that Doctor Strange was already searching through his papers, seemingly more agitated every page he turned.

"I'm sorry," he manages, just loud enough for the other man to hear. 

"I don't understand. Why would I ... I should know!" he turns abruptly, facing the pair in the corner. "I need time to figure this out. You can return to your other activities for now," he states sharply.

A portal opened from no where and traveled through the air, placing them back down into the room they were in not too long ago. It felt like years ago for Peter.

Mr. Stark was grumbling something under his breath, obviously upset. The teenager wanted to sleep, by now it was getting close to eight at night. He was supposed to go to bed so much earlier because of everything that just recently happened, but now he couldn't even find refuge in his own dreams. He felt defeated. Maybe they already lost their chance to stop Thanos and this was one of the realities where they lost, but this time Peter is just left to eternally suffer.

He just wants to _sleep_.

Guess he can sleep when he's dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i rly hope you guys read the chapter titles bc i work hard to make them funny. I want this fic to be serious and angsty while keeping some sort of lightness and humor to it. the chapter titles are part of it and are kinda meant to show how Peter sees the whole situation, constantly trying to make light of a bad thing.


	5. Error 404: Brain Does Not Compute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whOOPS sorry for posting like s u p e r late but I was like,, so sick for some reason? Like it made no sense? I felt nauseous all the time and just kind of,, didn't eat for like 2 weeks bc of that. Don't worry I'm better now, but I was v concerned for a bit bc it was weird and not normal for me whatsoever and nausea is v normal for me,, so it was bad.

Tony felt out of place and overall fairly awkward. He doesn't know what he's supposed to do- his kid dies every time he falls asleep and is apparently from the future and the timeline is just really messy. He's already getting so stressed out, he can feel his heart rate spiking at tiny little things now. Anxiety really is a bitch. He can only imagine how Peter's doing. After all, he _is_ the person going through all of this. Not to mention he can't even rest without reliving the same horrifying, stressful, emotionally straining event on repeat. 

"How you holding up there, Pete?" he decides to ask, already knowing the answer.

"I don't know," the kid sits down on his bed and looks to the floor gloomily.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" 

"I... I really don't know, Mr. Stark. My entire brain feels like a bowl of alphabet soup if that even makes sense. Everything's jumbled up and I really want a nap," he pouts.

"I know you do, buddy. I wish you could too, maybe I could put together some sort of machine that interferes with your brainwaves and-"

"It's okay, Tony. This is my issue, I'll figure it out" 

Peter had already resigned to this fact, his voice heavy with fatigue that came from deep within. He was brought into this life not by choice, but continues anyway out of necessity. It shakes Tony to his core, giving him an unsettling sense of deja vu. Peter mirrored a lot in the billionaire's own life - it was scary watching this happen from an outsider's point of view. And to top it all off - he was a fucking _kid_. A teenager that should be worrying about tests and girls and what's for lunch. Not about being forced to die hundreds of times and holding the weight of the universe. 

"Kiddo, this wasn't your fight at the start, but now it is and I'm sorry we couldn't have done better. I’ll make sure that you never have to go into this battle alone. Tell me what you need and I'll give it to you, okay? I'm here in your corner, I trust you. I'm here to help,"

"Mr. Stark, today has been the longest day of my life and to be honest, I'm ready to sleep for like five years straight, but I need to do something too so I'm gonna kill two birds with one stone." he looks up to his mentor with determination. Peter has an idea, and there's no way of knowing unless he tests it out.

"What do you - kid, what are you doing?"

"It's been eating me up inside and I need to find out who the voice is." 

"Peter, please just - just give yourself some time to breathe. You've been doing things nonstop, you need a break."

"I can't take breaks, Mr. Stark! There's so many things that I need to fix, i don't have time!" he shouts, frustrated and angry. He never expected to see a giant spaceship that morning, or to swing in to save Iron Man. He didn't think he'd be fighting aliens to protect a green magic rock. How was he supposed to know he'd fight until he died and wake up in the past? Things didn't slow down since they started, there's no way he can stop now.

"Peter, deep breaths. In, out. In, out" Tony tries to calm down the kid, but he's too worked up to bother "You talked to May earlier, yeah? I know you said no, but after talking to Strange, I think this is a lot bigger than us. She should know," he continues to talk slowly, but it has no impact on the teen.

"Of course it's bigger than us! Thanos wiped out half the universe by _snapping his fingers!_ What do I tell May? 'Hi I've been lying to you since I was fourteen and I'm Spider-Man. Also, I'm from the future where I died and now I need to save half the universe. How was your day?' I can't just say that!"

"Look, I'm not saying to tell her that, but now that we know what we know, telling her could get rid of _some_ of the stress. Besides, if she knew, then you'd have some more emotional support because we both know I'm crap at this."

Peter only sighs and bows his head. Tony's right. "I'll wait a little bit longer. I just - I need more time. I don't want to overload her,"

"Like you aren't?"

"I can handle this. I've handled everything else given to me up to this point, and I'm not going to buckle under pressure. I-I-I _can't_. May deserves better."

"You do too. Don't forget about yourself here, kid. May deserves the truth, and I'm not forcing you to tell her, but you can't think to cope with all of this entirely on your own."

"Yeah" he takes a deep breath "I'm not ready right now. This is a lot for me, I don't want to fall apart on her trying to explain it all because I'm barely holding on right now," Peter confesses, awkwardly picking at his fingernails.

Tony takes this moment to put a hand on Peter's shoulder, causing them to make eye contact. "Kiddo, hey buddy, I need you to look at me right now because I need to you understand. I'm here for you right now even though I literally have _no clue_ what I should do. I don't know how to help, so I need you to tell me what to do. I'm here for you." 

For the first time since Peter had shown up and completely flipped their lives upside down, he smiles. A soft genuine smile. One that wasn't a byproduct of nervous joking. He takes this moment as a small victory, wishing it could last.

"Thanks, Tony. Do you think I could have a cup of coffee? Or Redbull?" the teen asks so innocently.

"Lets settle for some coffee for now. We'll have to slowly build your tolerance," he chuckles. 

This is good.

* * *

Peter had managed to keep himself awake the entire night, much to Tony's surprise. ("I didn't sleep at all during finals week because I was studying this is no problem," "That doesn't sound healthy," "Wait, this is the past.. that means ... _No!_ I need to take them again!") The next morning, they decided that Peter should stay at the tower rather than go to school. It just seems ridiculous to go to classes you've already lived through when you're also already worrying about something like Thanos. Plus, there was a chance the kid could doze off in class and until they sort something out, Tony rather not have Peter waking up screaming in the middle of chemistry.

Their only problem was that this would mean they had to contact May, and lying was becoming harder to do and they were running out of excuses. 

"I should tell May" Peter rocks back and forth in his seat, feeling guiltier every passing moment.

"You should, but not until your ready," Tony tells him dialing his Aunt's number.

"Tell her that I'm sick and FRIDAY said I'd only get worse by going to school or something and she should pick me up after work. Then when she shows up I'll tell her because I want to do it in person," he decides, the words his mentor had told him not too long ago playing in his head. Mr. Stark is right. He needs her to know.

He nods, acknowledging his statement, while beginning his conversation with May. He used the excuse Peter gave him, delivering it smoothly without any problems.

"No it’s fine.I love having the squirt around. He's just got a bit of a cold, he'll be fine here. I've got top doctors waiting by the phone if I need them. It's only for a few hours. I can have Happy come pick you up after your shift and you can come over and grab the kid and maybe dinner too? It'll be late enough, and I've got some good chefs here,"

On the other end he can hear Aunt May's response vaguely. She sounds like she's agreeing, albeit reluctantly. "May, really it's no hassle. None of it is. Peter's in safe hands here."

Tony waits for her response, then he smiles, giving the kid a thumbs up. Good. Things are looking up.. for now.

The rest of the day Tony watched Peter as he anxiously paced around the room. At some point, Peter had started to drift off, the man tried to wake him up, afraid of what could happen. Unfortunately it was too late. He'd just have to wait this one out and hope Peter would come to soon.

* * *

There he was again. He didn't even care to pay attention to what time frame he was in exactly. All he knew was that there was no use doing anything and he was better off sitting on the ground somewhere until the inevitable happened. 

Peter was so lost in his own thought, he didn't register anything happening around him until he heard his name being called. 

Well, if he had fallen asleep and ended up here, why not be productive and figure out who is calling him. 

He walked around aimlessly for who knows how long, completely ignoring everything else going on, not even bothering to check when exactly he had shown up. Peter felt kind of stupid doing this, but when he heard his name being called out distantly, he got a rush of adrenaline and chased after it. It was like a voice that was just a little too far out of reach, one that could be heard, but not seen if that made any sense.

It was a disembodied voice that sounded distorted by the world itself, and that just struck as odd to the teenaged boy. When he still couldn't find where it was coming from, he tried to call out to it, ask it a question hoping it would answer.

"Hello? Where are you?" his voice echoed among the rocky terrain.

"-eter! Peter, you need to -" It sounded like static almost. Fluttering in and out of range despite the user's protest, but for the first time, he could hear more than just his name.

"What? P - Please repeat that, I - I can't hear you," he hastily dodges as Thanos lifts rocks to use as weapons. Soon enough he'll drop a moon on them all and he won't have much time after. Peter shudders involuntarily at the thought of dying _again_. Seriously, if hell exists, it would be luxury compared to this.

It sounds louder now, but it's still as choppy as it had been before. The only clear word he can hear is usually his name, but for some reason it seems like more words have been making themselves known. Maybe it's because he's more aware of the voice, or was this some sort of trick? Whatever it was, it didn't matter, he wants to get to the bottom of it. 

"-er it's not real - Peter it's -" 

_It's not real?_

Peter shakes his head, not sure if it was meant for whoever was speaking to him or to himself. At this point, reality is a very flimsy term and the teen is stuck in a bit of a gray area. However, despite the absurdity of it all, he tries to understand.

"I don't get it." he mutters, holding his head in his hands "What am I supposed to do? What do you want me to do?"

"Not real" the voice stutters out, slowly becoming more solid "Peter - real - ake up! You have to wa - Peter!" 

Suddenly it was like something was pounding on the back of his skull, frustrating, annoying, and painful. The kid has to kneel down on the floor to try and get rid of the swarm of dizziness he got that clouded his vision. He felt foggy and Peter has no idea what to do. Is this real? He really has no place to be asking what is real anymore since he died and ended up in the past, but some how ends up in the lesser past right before he died while he's asleep? Nothing makes sense, Peter is barely able to grasp onto the concept already and this loud, angry voice isn't making it easier.

He wants to let go. To understand. Throw away what he knows to learn something better, but it's the only thing grounding him and he's afraid of what might happen. Something inside of him, similar to his own spidey sense is completely terrified and Peter is too. 

This wasn't supposed to happen.

He goes down the list of things that wasn't supposed to ever happen.

Dying, going to Titan, getting on a spaceship, fighting the vulture, becoming Spider-Man, letting his Uncle die, getting bitten, be sent away while his parents died on an airplane. 

He was supposed to be a regular high school kid, but right now he has the weight of an entire universe dragging him down.

It was heavy and made the banging pain that throbbed in his head hurt even more. It felt like he was being pulled down deep into the earth while that fucking _voice_ got louder and louder. It was so much, it made his ears begin to ring. Peter kept his eyes shut tight, just waiting for that simple snap that would let him turn to dust when he did it.

He let go.

 _It's not real._

They told him so. 

Everything went white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY FOR THE CLIFF HANGER BUT I PROMISE I'LL UPDATE SOON


	6. I've Met Three Versions Of The Same Doctor And Only One Of Him Isn't A Douche

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I accidentally posted like part of this the other bc i was sleep deprived and rip that but heres the full thing

It was so silent and blindingly bright, making him think of it as a place pure and untouched by the world's evil.

For the moment, it had all stopped. The throbbing in his head, the guilt in his chest, all his anxieties had completely vanished. Of course, things don't like to work in Peter's favor and they slowly returned, but he still felt considerable much lighter than before. As if someone metaphorically had began to help him with the giant rock of responsibility he held onto tightly.

Peter blinked his eyes open, trying to adjust to the light when it adjusted for him. The room when from the bright white pearly gates of heaven to a much warmer and welcoming honey color. Soon, he felt a hand on his shoulder and another find its way to his chest, gently pulling him up.

"Peter, y-you did it, you're here" Doctor Strange looks at him with the softest expression he's ever witnessed. It almost makes the kid feel bad for being so rude earlier.

Almost.

"What did I do" the words spill from his mouth as he still tried to get his balance back. 

"It's difficult to explain" the man's eyes search behind him, looking for something - _someone_ right there oh God his metal arm is so much cooler - Peter needs to be focused.

"Alright, so I just said this is the Soul Stone, blah blah blah you know how we all got here. Everyone got here just fine except _you_. I really don't know why and if I had my books still I could probably find out, but that's beside the point." he waves hand and takes a deep breath, shooing away his half-hearted rant and continues along "Anyway, you were the only one not exactly able to show up here. We could see it all happening over there" 

Peter let his eyes flicker over to the area indicated by Dr. Strange's finger, it was a small little sanctuary type construction. Like a sacred space you would see that would've belonged to some religion or something, but instead of a statue or idol, there was a small mirror in it's place. The rest of the world was bland other than that small little place. There were a few crystal like formations, but it was empty.

"I assume it's meant for us to see the outside world, but since there was a soul out of place, we had been following you around. You wouldn't believe how wild it got in here when we saw you had connections to get back outside, but I began to worry when I saw you were still very much tethered to this time and reality. I know I'm going very fast, but trust me that the next time you are here, I'll make more sense of it" he looks guiltily at Peter, remembering how harsh he had been when he saw Peter interacting with his Past self. 

"We should really start labeling the different timelines, it makes it so much easier to refer to and so much less confusing for me to remember." Peter mumbles under his breath, it feels like every time he wants to learn more, he only learns less and it gets sloppier and sloppier to explain. 

"I agree, but that's for another time. As I was saying before, you are tethered here because of course, you were killed by Thanos and stored here, but your soul was also attached to another time and has been fighting on where to go. When you're awake, your mind makes the decision - whether you are aware of it or not - to stay there, but as soon as your brain shuts down, you appear here. Your subconscious has been fighting it off, which is why you keep reliving the same events, but now we've managed to break through and get you here."

"You came up with all of this in 19 hours?" he looks at the man incredulously, sliding his eyes over to the people around almost asking them if they can really believe this. 

"Time doesn't work the same here as it does in your world. To you, you've just had the worst day of you life, but for us, the novelty has worn off a bit and I would say it's been about a good couple of weeks. Every time I checked in on you, only a few minutes had passed while it felt like hours here. I'm not sure if there's some sort of time hole here that causes us to be like this or maybe it's just another thing having to do with you specifically, but I did take some time and care into coming up with all of this. I do hope you paid attention because it's important you make sure to tell me about it and warn the world."

Peter can feel something fraying the edges of his vision and just as he had felt lighter and so carefree when he first arrived, it started doing the same but in reverse as he begins waking up. The teen isn't sure if he should want to wake up or not, there is always the chance he might stay asleep, but again this is useful intel, he could take the risk for it. 

Unfortunately, just like Doctor Strange had said, his subconscious made a decision and it's willing to do whatever to keep it where it wants to be rather than where it was forced to be. The voices start to break apart like static and he's back on Titan. Peter focuses his mind, tuning out everything around him until he's sure it's gone. He's made a decision.

He wakes up.

* * *

"Oh yeah, Peter is just upstairs, but I think he's having a little cat nap, you can visit him in a minute, but can I first show you the brand new kitchen I had remodeled. I'm thinking of mass manufacturing this awesome fridge I made. It's way better and so much more advanced than any of that Samsung crap. If you like it I could get you one" 

Tony was absolutely stalling for Peter right now. This was the longest he's been gone so far with thirty minutes and he's still there on the bed like a dead corpse. That was _not_ something May could just walk in on. So when she arrived early, adding much stress to Tony's already maxed out stress capacity, he did what he does best - talk. A lot and lot and lot of talking. Hopefully, Peter would wake up soon and just stroll downstairs and they could figure it all out from there.

"Please, Tony, you said he wasn't feeling so good and I just want to check on him" she huffs, trying to walk past the man, but he grabs her wrist and leads her right back into the kitchen and starts explaining everything about the totally _normal_ refrigerator he was lying about right now. Thank God that Friday did have some added features in the kitchen that helped with the illusion, and if he were not freaking out so badly, he probably would've been laughing his ass off at the situation.

Thankfully, before he got too far deep into his grave from pissing off May Parker, Peter stumbled right over to them, limbs moving groggily with the effects of sleep still fresh. When he finishes rubbing his eyes, he freezes, eyes moving from Tony who was sweating and anxious to May who looked about ready to bite his head off. At the moment, he doesn't know if he wants to laugh, cry, or scream. He missed May so much and he almost forgot the severity of it until he saw her face right there in front of him. 

She moves to him first and envelopes him into a warm hug, pushing away only to check his temperature by putting her hand on his forehead.

"You don't seem very warm, how do you feel?" her voice oozed concern and love, he hadn't realized how much he needed this little bit of normalcy after everything that just happened.

"May, I need to tell you something" he whispers, unable to trust his voice to not break.

"Oh, what happened Peter, baby? Are you alright? Did you eat something funny?" Her expression becomes worried, but never bothered. He smiles just a little at that.

"No it's - May you have to promise me you'll let me explain myself and not get mad at Mr. Stark for anything" he decides to say, noticing how far his mentor began to get from his aunt, fully aware he was afraid of her wrath. 

"Did he do something? What's going on?" 

"Do you promise?"

She looks like she wants to argue, but May sighs and agrees "I promise."

Peter takes a step back, removing himself from her arms and mentally prepares himself for what he's about to say. When's he's ready, he starts explaining it all from the very start.

"Remember when I went on that field trip when I was 14? That day, I got bitten by a bug - a spider - and I didn't say anything. Why? Because it was just a bug bite and should've gone away in a couple days. Turns out, it was a radioactive spider and it mutated my DNA. I'm Spider-Man." Peter refuses to look at his Aunt's face, but going off of the fact that Tony has yet move closer or farther is enough of an indicator that she's completely neutral. 

"I know what you're going to say and you can get mad and ground me, take away my phone, whatever, but I'm doing whatever I can to look out for the little guy, and I know I'm about to sound like some self sacrificing hero in a dumb movie or something, but the universe needs me so much more now than ever. Now we're going to get to the point that I wanted to talk about, that Tony wanted me to tell you because it's probably important for me to have more people to talk to about this" He takes a deep breath and collects his thoughts before spilling out a bunch of stuff that will most likely completely blow Aunt May's mind.

"I'm from the future, not very far in, but the future nonetheless. In about six months, this alien guy names Thanos destroys half the universe. I was there in space on planet Titan fighting him with a few others and we lost. From what I was able to see, almost all of us died except Tony and some other robot looking lady, but I can't really be sure. When I go to sleep, I wake up back on Titan and relive it over again which has happened a few times while I was trying to take a nap. While I was back there, I woke up inside and was able to find out that I dunno - it has something to do with where the loyalty lies in my soul? This part is where it's harder to explain, but yeah. Uh, are you good?" 

May looked completely horrified, different emotions all sweeping through at different times and she had no idea what to make of this. The only thing she can think of doing is wrapping her arms around her child because from what she can tell, Peter is most certainly holding back on the details and it must be so much worse than he's letting on.

"You're so brave" she whispers into hos hair as her eyes began to well up with tears "You are so so grounded, but also stupidly brave" she chokes out a laugh and hears her kid make a similar noise.

When they let go, he smiles at her. It's felt like an eternity since he's seen her between everything that has been happening and he's just so glad to have her now. "So you're not mad at Mr. Stark?" Peter asks brightly, trying to hide the tear about to roll down his cheek.

"I won't murder him, but I definitely need to have a talk with him" May's eyes were like daggers and Tony made a mental note to avoid that converstation for as long as physically possible if he doesn't want to be in a hospital.

After a moment longer, she takes a deep breath and finds some sort of calmness. When she thinks she has it, May looks to both Peter and Tony "So what's the plan?"

* * *

They talked a little bit more about everything, Peter mostly skimmed over it all while May was there, but as soon as she had left the dinner table to wash her dish even after Tony told her she didn't need to, he leaned over to bring in more information.

He barely got to say much, just a quick couple of words that let Mr. Stark know that there was a lot more going on than he had been saying. Tomorrow morning - a lot was going to change. For now, he'd stay awake. 

He's not returning to the Soul Stone until he absolutely needs to.

Something deep, dark inside of himself is sending a warning. It was similar to Doctor Strange's voice called his name over and over. Similar to the impending feeling of doom he felt when he was resting. Similar to his spidey sense going off right before danger.

_If you go back, there's a chance you may never return._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okayyyy I'm sorry for being rly bad about trying to post soon. I'm trying to be better about posting ok


	7. Woah! You’re Not Dead Either?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay first of all, I am s o fucking sorry for his huge, unplanned hiatus. Believe it or not, but i wrote this entire chapter, (way more than whats actually here) but it all got deleted. I've been trying to make time to work on it, but school is a pain in the ass. Anyway, enjoy

They had breakfast the next morning which Peter would describe as 'Heaven for a Small Army' because of the endless amount of plates of waffles, pancakes, french toast, and other amazing foods. He may or may not have eaten about seven full plates of food, but hey: to be fair he's a radioactive superhero teenaged boy with an impossibly fast metabolism who just came back from the dead a bit ago. 

When they had finished their meal, Tony and May made sure to put down some ground rules. First of all, he wouldn't be going to school this year. It seems stupid to have him go to classes he's already been to so luckily they were able to contact the school and have them provide the school material. All he had to do was take some tutoring and he’d be fine. Second, Peter needed to be completely transparent with them about everything. Right now, he’s the one who knows the most and they can’t have him doing some self sacrificial thing by keeping information to himself. Third, Peter should be staying at the tower since May still very much had to work, her job being her only last shred of normalcy that she clung onto at the moment, the teen needs some supervision. Finally, he’s going to be the one to lead the major meetings and gathering allies. Again, no one knows anything, and he’s already lived through the most of it. It’s only fair Peter is allowed to act like the adult he was forced to become, no matter how much Tony hates to see it.

When they had figured all this out, they let him have the day off. Well — they let him have as much fun as he’d let himself when he was pacing around in circles asking if there were any more developments since the last five minutes. Eventually, May had to leave so it was up to Tony to figure out how to get his poor spider-boy to chill out. Five cups of hot chocolate, a stack of Disney movies, and a mountain of blankets later, Tony had gotten Peter to sit down and start watching something to get his mind off of, er.. well everything. 

While they relaxed into the sofa, singing along to Mulan, Tony opened up his messages and typed out a simple text.

**I know you’re not dead. You know where I am, be here in a couple hours.**

* * *

Two hours later, just as he expected, his phone buzzed. 

“Hey, Pete, kiddo. I know you’ve been dy-uh..excited to make some actual progress, so I think it’s time you meet someone.” He sees the teen’s eyes light up with determination. 

“Who is it?” Peter’s voice sounds anxious, but firm. 

“Come on. He should be down a few floors.”

The two made their way onto an elevator, Peter’s nervousness starting to grow larger by the second. It isn’t until Mr. Stark opens the doors to a conference room does it all die in an instant. 

Shock is the only thing he can feel, but then anxiety finds its way to seep back into his very bones. 

“Director Fury, Sir — of SHIELD. It’s an honor to meet you, Sir.” Peter stood up straight.

The man looked the kid up and down, becoming painfully aware by the ill fitting hoodie and converse shoes barely holding on that this person in front of him was still just a boy. 

“Peter Parker?” He asks, almost hoping that the kid would shake his head no. Instead, he gives a small nod of the head, all the confirmation Fury needs.

"It's nice to meet you, Peter. I've heard a lot about you," The man flicks his eyes over to the kid once more. "Stark talks about you so much, I thought you were his son." He smirks.

"Hah, uh n-no. Are you here to ask me any questions?" 

"Ah, straight to the point I see. I like your style," The man adjusts his jacket before he opens his mouth once more. "I'd like to hear more about this 'Thanos' character you've spoken about before."


	8. So That’s What Those Ringpops Did

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter is when things rly pick up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another short chapter. oops sorry

“Thanos,” Peter drawls our the name. It’s now become something he says so often, he feels sick to his stomach even thinking of it; yet it’s so familiar, it’s second nature. 

“Thanos is the one to kill us all. He will take out half the universe. I know because I was there.” He says, all the life, happiness, and joy that he had radiated before stepping into that room was gone. 

Nick Fury quirks an eyebrow. “How are you here then?”

Reasonable enough question, unrealistic answer. 

“I’m not exactly sure, but there’s something tethering me here. I’ve seen the present, I’ve seen the past, and what is to become our future. I was inside the soul stone, but I’m also tethered here.” Peter looks at his hands, as if they would give him an explaination to all this magic, alternate universe mumbo jumbo. It was all so incredibly _strange_ , he felt more like a fictional character in some cheesy story than an actual person. 

“When does this happen exactly?”

“In about five, six-ish months, so we don’t have much time to prepare.” The teen shrugs his shoulders, trying to brush off the sinking feeling of dread in his stomach. 

“ _Months?_ “ Fury sounded flabbergasted. “You’re telling me that half the universe is about to be wiped out in five to six _months?_ “

“Yes, sir.” 

“I’m calling for some backup. We’ll schedule another meeting soon and you can debrief everything.” The man pulls out his phone, and while he lifts it up to his ear, he turns to Tony, “Learn everything you can. This is an all new threat.”

* * *

There was two cans of redbull already in the trash can, and Peter began to wonder if it was possible he would soon build a tolerance so high to the drink that he wouldn’t be able to consume enough to get any kind of buzz. He was exhausted, ready to sleep, but terrified at the thought of returning to the soul stone just to stay stuck within its’s walls. 

Everything Dr. Strange told him was only making things more confusing and complex. He tried to listen to the one here, tried listening to the one there, but everything is a jumbled up in his head as a bag of scrabble tiles is. Up is down and down is sideways. There’s no pattern, no significant reason to why _Peter_ is the only one out here. 

He tried to write out some theories. One being that everyone is actually out in some sort of shape or form, they never died, but were sent back to another reality where they do the same thing as Peter and have the same exact issue without anyone else knowing. 

He quickly ruled that out, it was too messy for it to actually work, besides, there were multiple signs already disproving the idea. 

After that, he began to wonder if he might have some sort of magic that ran down his bloodstream which protected him somehow, but again, it just didn’t seem possible. 

It felt like ages until he came to one singular conclusion that didn’t sound like some fairytale answer that _might_ hold some truth to it. The snap killed everyone, but there was some sort of randomized chance that it wouldn’t get rid of everyone entirely. If there was an inkling of a doubt somewhere in Thano’s mind as he went through with his plan, there could be some negative affects. 

The reality Reality Stone warped the way he viewed things while asleep until he found the soul stone. Time and Space stones brought Peter back and allowed him to regain consciousness in his body, six months before the snap had actually happened. Meanwhile, the connection he had with the soul stone and the abilities of the mind stone allowed him to talk to the ones killed in the snap and be able to gain information from them about what happened. Finally, the power stone was the one to power it all and make it work. It’s the reason why he has limited travels between worlds. 

Thanos might have hesitated in that split second. He might have wondered if what he did was right, and that split second of a doubt was enough to create a tiny little loophole which allowed one person to potentially undermine his entire life’s work. Even if he had decided after that millisecond of internal conflict that he was right, it was enough. 

“But why me?” He whispered to himself, making a fist and tugging his hair. 

His eyes droopped, and he wanted to rest. “Why me, Strange. You said you could see me through that small little mirror, so answer me now. Why was it me?”

Frustratated laughter bubbled from his lips, “Am I even right? Is any of this right?”

“I have all night,” he murmurs. “I should be doing something more productive.” 

By the time the alarm buzzed, letting him know it was 7:30am, Peter had already written and revised another 5 copies of methods to defeat that ugly looking eggplant. Now all he had to do was wait for the meeting and everything would soon fall into place.

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve got a [tumblr](https://marvelherosaredorks.tumblr.com) and an [instagram](https://instagram.com/genericresponse?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=161029qhh46cc) if u wanna yell at me


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